A new charity has launched today with a focus on rural suicide prevention and better supporting the mental health of those living and working in the countryside.
One of the Rural Communities Mental Health Foundation's key aims is to reduce the number of people in rural areas taking their own lives.
Its unveiling coincides with World Suicide Prevention Day today (10 September), an awareness day designed to prevent suicides.
The co-founders of the charity are from farming backgrounds and their families have been directly affected by the issue.
Having lost their brothers Max and Robert to suicide ten and five years ago respectively, co-founders Kate Scott and Lewis Hunter have identified the need for a dedicated mental health awareness and suicide prevention charity.
On founding it, Kate explained: “It’s our aim to help anyone struggling with their mental health realise they’re not alone and help and support is out there.
“We will deliver funded training to empower people to have more confident and informed conversations, focussing on free mental health first aid training sessions initially.
"[We] will work to educate the next generations and normalise the conversation around mental health and suicide.”
Wider research on mental health in rural areas reveals that the suicide rate for male farm workers is three times the male national average.
The top three barriers stopping men reaching out are the stigma around mental health (18%), not knowing who to turn to (15%) and lack of awareness of support available (15%).
Lewis Hunter, the charity's co-founder, said: “It’s our hope that the work the charity does will stop people reaching the same crisis point as Max and Robert, instead showing them that there’s hope”.
To achieve its aims, the foundation aims to engage with everyone in the community, including farmers and farm workers, rural businesses such as machinery dealerships and veterinary practices, and Young Farmer’s Clubs.
It will facilitate collaborative working amongst local and regional organisations and charities to achieve the collective aim of better mental health and suicide prevention in rural areas.
The charity will be primarily dedicated to supporting people in Northamptonshire, Buckinghamshire, and Bedfordshire, but it could be extended in the future.
